Another Tail For The Book
by aFandomEncounter
Summary: Lucy will admit, being a mermaid stuck on the man's dry land was annoying, but she could deal with that. What makes it soul destroying is the lack of knowledge on the human language, and that her only teacher is a pink haired idiot. Combined with the fact that she couldn't go anywhere without him because of her stupid fins, her life was basically a hot, dry hell.
1. Chapter 1

**_Far out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest cornflower,  
and as clear as crystal, it is very, very deep;  
so deep indeed-  
_** _\- Hans Christian Anderson, The Little Mermaid_

 **Hardship**  
noun  
1\. a condition that is difficult to endure; suffering; deprivation; oppression:  
2\. an instance or cause of this; something hard to bear, as a deprivation, lack of comfort, or constant toil or danger:

 _Winter, XX77, Fiore Ocean_

Jude Heartfillia, Ruler of Fiore's waters and son of Poseidon himself, was a kind man if not wary. He felt from the top of his head to the bottom of his fins that something terrible would happen, unfortunately for the inhabitants of Fiore Ocean, it seemed his keen instinct was correct as a great storm had been brewing over head for hours, the strong winds rattling the ocean and shaking homes. Seven year old Lucy, with her golden hair that wasn't darkened even in water and a curious soul that promised the young mer an adventurous life, was one of the few unafraid by the reckless abandon happening above her and her seven sisters' home.

She swam between her parents' fins, playing with a coral ball and one of the family's seahorse's, Plue. Lucy kicked the ball around the house, snickering under her breath whenever it came close to breaking anything.

"Lucky Lucy Heartfillia, I swear to Davy Jones' Heart, if you so much as even touch anything of value in this house you will be eating seaweed all week. Don't test me." Jude bellowed, seeming annoyed but Lucy could see the amusement in her dad's eyes. She wasn't stupid.

"Play nice sweetie, she's only having fun." Layla said, giving her husband a playful tap on the arm, "You should be glad she's not crying over the storm like the others, it has been bad enough trying to calm six of them, imagine throwing Lucy into the mix."

Lucy felt that she should have been insulted by her father's fearful shudder, but she was too happy over the lack of berating she would have received otherwise.

"Why don't you play outside for a while, just don't go too far..." there was a dangerous glint in her mother's eye that betrayed her kind demeanour, "and if you break any of the neighbours windows, don't think I won't follow up on your father's threat."

Lucy wasn't sure if it were her advanced knowledge for a seven year old or just natural intuition that told Lucy she was a smart for fearing her mother more than her father.

Lucy gave a quick nod, before flashing her biggest (also fakest) smile at them, "I promise on grandmer's grave I won't do anything bad, cross my heart and hope to die, stick a sea urchin in my eye."

Turning around, she picked up the coral ball in one hand, and Plue in the other, then hastily swam out of the house to find somewhere suitable to play. Lucy loved Acalypha, it was shiny and glittery, the citizens were always kind, and because her father was dedicated to his work and maintaining a working trade system, nobody ever attacked Acalypha. Unfortunately, it wasn't that amusing for Lucy, she'd seen everything there was to see (including the castle's secret tunnels) and she'd talked to everyone about every small talk topic there was to have at least twice.

Glancing up at the surface, Lucy found herself lost in the beauty of the Above. In the mornings it shone a light pink and orange, similar to the pearls of her mother's necklace, and during the days it was so bright and happy. Even on days like this, when storms gathered and the Above seemed grey and dark, she still wanted to break the surface, see what was really up there.

Lucy had always been warned by her father: warned about the Two Fins, warned about those who were due to their obsession with the Above, warned about how monsters were out there on lands not surrounded by water.

But Lucy had already made up her mind, whether it was because of the storm or the pent up curiosity, she was going to go explore the Above. Glancing around, Lucy realised now would probably be the best and only time she had, everyone was bundled inside and her parents were caring for her sisters.

With a quick apology and a kiss to the cheek, she set Plue and the ball on the bottom of the ocean and took off. Lucy crept closer to the surface of the ocean, towards the eye of the storm. Happiness over took her fear as her head broke the surface, the wind hitting her face in an exhilarating fashion that startled a laugh from her small body.

Never before had the girl felt this kind of sensation, this kind of physical touch on her body, always surrounded by water. Lucy felt a small part of guilt gnawing at her, knowing that it was usually the rebellious Changlings that travelled to the Above to see the Two Fins, their tails hitting each other in a dare to see the forbidden views.

A large part of Lucy felt guilt and fear over the worry she was causing her father, knowing of the punishment she would receive when she returned home, but for now she believed she had come too far to turn back now.

Seeing a large brown beast with a large belly and unchanging face in the distance, Lucy picked up her courage and swam forward, careful to stay out of sight, her head only breaking surface here and there to marvel at the beauty of the large brown creature in front of her. The dark grey waves slapped against the side of the monster, breaking and showering her with cool droplets, happiness contorting her face into a wide smile at the new feeling.

Curiosity over flowed from Lucy's young imagination waiting to be satisfied, the only way was to get closer, to feel the mysterious subject in front of her. Lucy reached out to place a shaking hand on the hard hide before her, waiting for its giant jaw to turn around and in case itself around her small wrist, but to the relief and disappointment of the young Heartfillia there was no reaction. The creature stayed still, the only movement coming from the beating waves and jagged wind.

Feeling brave, Lucy reached her other hand out, with more force behind it this time. Her strong, curved claws extended from her fingers and sunk into the dark hardness in front of her. Lucy knew she was in dangerous waters now, literally as well as figuratively, but she only wanted a reaction from the beast in front of her. But still there was no change from the beast.

As quickly as she surfaced, Lucy retreated back into the sea as noises from above reached her ears. She was confused, believing a beast this size would have a deep, more timbre voice, rather than the gruff but still relatively high pitched sounds she heard.

While Lucy was only seven years of age, she prided herself on her smarts and wits, and approached the surface again. She knew the sounds were not from the lumbering Beast in front of her, and that as of yet it proved no danger to her, the thing that worried her was that the Two Fins were not as kind nor safe as the large Beast they stood on.

In the distance, she heard a large rumble, akin to thunder rolling in the skies, but Lucy knew that was not the case. That was roar of her furious father, a roar she had been on the receiving end of for years. Lucy figured she had less than ten Counts before her father would find her and drag her little tail home for a right lecture. _It's now or never_. Sinking her other set of claws into the back of the beast, she pulled herself up, repeating the process again and again until she had pulled herself up enough to peek over the top of the beast, her face squished against two rungs.

From Lucy's vantage point she could see Two Fins scuttling all over the beast, running from one side of the beast to the other, buckets in their hands, scooping up parts of the ocean that had collected on the beast's back. Lucy could see a Two Leg in a silly hat yelling, what she assumed were orders, to the other Two Legs, before a group of them untangled a few strand of the Beast's hair. All at once they pulled on the ends, causing the Beast's large, white gills unfold and expand in the sky from where they were attached to a main back dorsal.

What were the Two Fins doing to this poor, albeit strange, beast, and why wasn't it fighting back. Something of this size would be able to easily retaliate and knock them all down with a single blow. She had seen its multiple, thin limbs protruding from its side, all moving in synchrony, all only just touching the water; _maybe it can't reach the Two Fins?_

A horrifying thought struck Lucy, _if they would do this to the Beast, what would they do to me._

Without a second to spare, Lucy released her grip on the beast and fell back into the water, a splash resounding as she hit the water. Too late did she realise this would alert the Two Fins of her presence. In less than half a Count, all of the Two Fins barrelled towards the end of the ship, leaning over the edge and peering into the depths below in search for Lucy.

Before Lucy could make her escape, one of the Two Fins shouted so loudly she could hear it under the surface. The Two Fins' exaggerated movement and aggressive pointing told Lucy that she had been found as all heads turned in her direction.

Fear petrified Lucy; unable to move from her spot just below the surface, only able to make out the faint shape of the Two Fins leering down at her from the edge of the Beast.

"Lucy!"

The young mer's head searched around to face the only voice that could calm the restless waves of her panic. In the distance to her right Lucy could see her mother, the anxiety on her face, and the way she was racing towards Lucy like the Sea Witch herself was snapping at her fins.

From the cheering and ruckus of the Two Fins above, it seemed like Lucy wasn't the only one to notice her mother.

"Mama, get out of here. They're scary." Lucy screamed at her mother, her own fins beginning to beat at the water as she felt adrenaline kick in. She made it to the halfway point between her mother and the ship before she heard the awful sound.

The high pitched noise resonated throughout the whole Ocean and Lucy had no doubt that even Poseidon heard it. It rattled her brain and made her want to curl in upon herself, the sound sending shudders through her body.

"Lucy, it's going to be alright sweetie."

It wasn't until her mother's words broke her out of her trance that she realised the high pitched noise was coming from her own mouth. The coma like trance she was in broke at this point, and it was only at that point she could feel the searing pain in her tail that threatened to make her see stars. Scared to look down, she kept her eyes focused on her mother. The kindness in her eyes were enough to keep Lucy's nearly full blown panic attack at bay as Layla swam closer and closer.

Once her mother was in reach, Lucy grabbed and clasped herself to her mother. Layla gripped Lucy's wrists and pulled them from her body, keeping her eyes locked on her daughter's the whole time. "Lucy, sweetie, this is going to hurt but I need you to stay strong. As soon as I'm finished, swim for it, I'll be right behind you. I love you."

Lucy watched her mother swim behind her to her now fearful black tail, a contrast of her mother's enchanting coral pink. She always wished that when her tail finally settles on a colour, it'll be the same as her mother's; the same colour that comforts her every night and the physical representation of everything good. So distracted by the beauty of her mother's tail, she hadn't seen the metal spear embedded in the end of her tail, rope coiled around the end of the spear and pulled taut.

Lucy let out a sob of horror realising that it had broken one of her smaller dorsal fins and ripped part of her left tail webbing. The knowledge of what caused her pain seemed to make it ten times worse, but nothing could be compared to the pain Lucy experienced next. Lucy swore she left her body for a moment as her mother ripped the spear from her body, only to be brought back by her mother's bloody hand gripping her wrist and dragging her from the ship.

The further the pair got from the boat, the harder it seemed for Lucy to keep her eyes open and to keep her tail beating the water behind her.

"C'mon sweetie, we're so close. When we get home I'll make you a dish of coral dessert and well get you all bandaged up. We're so close. We're so close."

Lucy heard her mother repeat that mantra over and over until Lucy could faintly make out the bright lights of Acalypha behind her blackening sight.

Lucy awoke to a familiar bed of soft sand and a blanket of threaded blanket. Blinking a few times to gain her bearings, she looked down at her sleeping mother and father wrapped in each other's arms, leaning against the edge of her bed.

Before she could help it, tears began to drift from her eyes into the expansive water in front, only visible for a few seconds as they reflected the low light of the glowing coral on her walls before they dissolved into the salty ocean.

"Honey?" Lucy's was startled to see her father sitting up straight, looking like he'd been through hell and back. It was like the floodgates opened and all Lucy's tears, horror, and pain came rushing out as she sobbed in her father's arms.

"I'm sorry..." she hiccupped and gasped between breaths, "I only wanted to see the Above, but it's so scary, and mama almost got hurt, and I am so sorry. Please don't banish me, I promise I'll never leave."

Her apology had woken her mother, who gave her a small smile and began to rub her back.

"It's alright, it's all over, everything is going to be okay.

 **Okay, so that's basically the prologue so I am so sorry it's short.**

 **Beast = Boat, Two Fins = Humans, if there's anything else you're confused about, review it or send me a PM.**

 **I'm just testing out this story and seeing if you guys like it. I'll probably post another chapter of present Lucy this week so you guys can get a feel before I'll set into my normal update times (the 1** **st** **and 15** **th** **of every month).**

 **If you guys liked it, please give it a bit of support so I can see whether I should continue this or do a different story.**

 **Natsu will most likely be in the next chapter, if not definitely the next one.**

 **Sorry if any spelling confuses you, Australia is like the worst of British and American spelling combined with our own weird slang thrown in the mix.**

 **I know it wasn't very humorous, but it'll get better when she's grown up and Natsu joins the story, I promise, sass and humour guaranteed.**

 **Also chapter 469 has broken my heart into a million pieces, I just want my babies to be happy.**

 **P.S. did you also see what I did with the chapter title, HARDSHIP *wink wink, pun pun***


	2. Chapter 2

**Thus she wandered about miserably for some years, never to find that which she yearned for  
** \- Jacob and Willhem Grimm, Rapunzel

 **Encounter  
** noun  
1\. a meeting with a person or thing, especially a casual, unexpected, or brief meeting:  
verb (used with object)  
1\. to come upon or meet with, especially unexpectedly:

 _Spring, XX87, Fiore Ocean_

Today was just meant to be a simple day of harassing the humans. That was the plan.

Lucy was pretty sure she had never swam so fast before, dodging and weaving between sharp coral and strong rocks that could break her brittle bones into pieces. Her plan was not going quite as smoothly as she wanted.

Why was it so hard for the humans just to let the plan happen? All she was going to do was break the surface, sing to a few stupid humans, drown a couple, and then go back to her usual day. It's not that bad of a plan. But of course the humans had to ruin it. How she supposed to know the humans had ear protectors. The white little buds protruding from her ear seemed to spite her as she fruitlessly sang to them. Lucy swore she saw some of them laugh in her face.

So here she was, trying to lose the bane of her existence in the dangerous underbrush, her tail constantly changing colours to blend in with the vibrant coral and dark rock. Lucy hadn't been this close to the humans' home ground in years. Their small boats gliding across the ocean overhead thanks to the help of some strange glowing crystal; Lucy could feel the magic radiating from it, disrupting the peace of the shallow water bed.

 _Shallow water...? Oh clam,_ it dawned on Lucy that they were trying to corner her on the shore. As soon as she bypassed the coral forest she would have nowhere left to go, rocks lined her right and the humans had formed a semi circle around her to the left. All there was left was sandy shores ahead of her, just enough water covering the shore to move. Lucy was trapped; these humans would capture her and do who knows what to her.

Lucy had to summon someone she never would have thought, or wanted, to ever call for. Reaching down to the key ring positioned on her belt, pulling out the key at the back. It was rusted and seemed to make all the water surrounding it darker, wicked. Compared to the other keys it felt heavy in her hand, almost as if wanting to drag her to the very depths of the ocean, although that would only be less than a foot downwards from where she was trapped.

"Gate of the Sea Witch, I open thee: Porlyusica."

Dark, brooding clouds circled overhead, a stark contrast to the sunny blue sky a few boats length in the distance. The temperature of the sea seemed to drop to an almost icy chill as a tall figure rose above the surface of the water. _I guess she has a thing for dramatic flair?_ Lucy glanced around as a chill shot up her spine, rattling every individual vertebra. The world was frozen, not literally, but it was as if time had stopped. The usual relentless waves stood still for a first and the humans were lifeless statues, halfway through their actions to capture Lucy.

The Witch's pink hair was pulled back into a bun and her bangs didn't move from their place framing her face, even as she swivelled around to glare at Lucy.

"You better have not called me here to fight; you wouldn't be stupid enough to do that. Would you?" The heated glare Lucy received made her stiffen up, unable to tell the Sea Witch that, yes indeed; she was stupid enough to do that.

Porlyusica seemed to realise that as she released a long winded sigh that Lucy was worried her soul would leave her body. "You've got your fathers blood, I know because you believe in the same foolish behaviour. You two are just like the humans, a race of simpletons who see fighting as the only way to accomplish things."

Lucy would have retaliated as the witch began to mutter about 'stupid humans' and 'reckless mermaids', but unfortunately the witch was her only hope at escape. What was that human saying, don't bite the hand that feeds you?

"I just wish to get out of here and not end up in their capture, and if you could help me, it'd be much appreciated." Lucy knew that the woman in front of her appeared frail and light handed, but the very magical energy Porlyusica released was enough to keep Lucy using her most humble language. Guess she should thank her father for the 14 years of etiquette lessons.

"I could rescue you from your predicament, but you must know, I don't do favours, I do deals. What would you give me in return?"

Lucy paused for a moment, the word 'everything' on the tip of her tongue, but she was smart enough to keep it caged in her mouth. Who knew what the witch would do with that power. "What would you want?"

There was a pause as Porlyusica stared into Lucy's eyes, each second making Lucy feel more and more exposed. "My key back, I am not a fan of knowing that someone has the ability to summon me whenever. I stay seclude for a reason, it won't work for me if some stupid mermaid keeps summoning me left and right."

"Of course, here," Lucy rushed back to the ring of keys she had placed back on her belt after summoning the Witch, "you can have it back. Thank you for saving me."

A scoff left Porlyusica's mouth as she looked down at Lucy's head, only just above the surface, her arm protruding from the water. "Don't thank me yet," The Sea Witch said as she snatched the key from Lucy's webbed hands, "I'm opening an underwater tunnel system, it will lead you to what you want most. Don't start crying if you get lost though, all tunnels lead back to the ocean."

The clouds above started to dissipate as the water around the sea witch bubbled, and before a word could leave Lucy's lips the witch had disappeared.

 _Tch, stingy. She could have at least taken me home, or got rid of the humans._ Lucy quickly glanced up at the humans as she saw them readying a net into the water. Feeling the pull of magic behind her, Lucy doubled up over herself and swam in the opposite direction of the humans, her chest touching the bottom of the sandy ground at times.

Ahead of her underneath a collection of coral and battered down rocks, Lucy spotted a small opening, just big enough for her to go through without getting stuck.

Lucy began to beat the sandy ground beneath her, making sure to pull up as much sand as she could to give herself cover. _This'll be a beach to clean out later but at least they can't see where I'm going now._

As Lucy reached the entrance of the tunnel her claws slid out above her fingertips and sunk into the sides of the rock, in one quick burst of power Lucy pulled herself forward to speed up her momentum in the tunnel.

Luckily there was more room inside of the tunnel, enough for her tail to help her hastily rush through the tunnels, but before she even got a meter away from the entrance it collapsed behind her, rocks pilling on top of each other.

 _I guess I won't be going back that way anytime soon._

Lucy followed the narrow path for what seemed like hours, but she couldn't say for certain, the lack of light and details didn't help her distinguish how long she had been trapped in the tunnel. Lucy was thankful that she lived at the bottom of the ocean, it had helped her develop a resistance to dark waters, as she could make the faint outlines of the rocky wall. While her sight was helpful, the most information she got about the tunnel was from her hands dragging and pulling along the edges of the tunnel, the delicate webbing between her fingers touching every bump and ridge of the wall.

When Lucy began her journey in the tunnel she would have thought the confining spaces and darkness would have been the most terrifying aspect, but what scared her most was the fact that there was nothing living in these tunnels. No barnacles on the side of the walls, no plankton scuttling around on the bottom of the floor, and not even any amoebas floating through the water to be caught on her fine webbings.

The long hours of swimming must have caught up to Lucy at some point because she awoke at one point on the bottom of the tunnel, her tail folded back over her as a blanket, the thick webbing in of her caudal fin acting as a pillow.

What caught her attention was the way one of the ends of her wispy dorsal fins moved in the water, dancing back and forth to silent music. Movement meant current which obviously meant there was an opening somewhere. Somewhere hopefully with light (even the bottom of the ocean had bioluminescent worms and fish to light up the city) and food.

Lucy raced off down the tunnel as new hope filled her, pushing her forward against a current that stronger the closer she got. She felt the change in her tail and glanced down to see the hopeful blue of her tail, the colour so similar to Aquarius. The reminder of her old friend made her tail dim, whether from the sadness that had crept into Lucy's core or from shame of comparing her tail to one as beautiful as Aquarius. Lucy would have thought by the age of 18 she would have settled down, to have a colour of her own, to have one less thing to be looked down for.

Giving her head a quick shake, Lucy faced forward and halted to a stop, the water too shallow now to swim in _._ The water in the tunnel had reached a small hill; _a hill with water on the other side of it,_ Lucy noted as her ears picked up the sound of flowing water crashing against the opposite side of the small hill. Upon further inspection, it seemed it was less of a hill and more of a rough rock protruding from the ground. Lucy ran her fingers down to the bottom of the rock to see if she could pick it up and swim under it, but her persistent pulling was going nowhere.

She had to climb over it.

With a heave Lucy had managed to slid her fingers into a crevice above the surface and pull her torso out of the water, the strange sensation of water sliding down her back was foreign but not unpleasant. Leaning her weight forward, Lucy managed to keep her body suspended on the rock as she pulled her fingers out of the rock's crevice and began searching for another one towards the front of the rock. _Just a bit more and I can use my momentum to slide down the rock onto the other side._ Frustration grew as Lucy found nothing to grab onto, she knew she had to slide her claws into the strong rock but was worried on whether they could break into the tough rock, especially after all the wear of dragging herself in the tunnel yesterday. Having no other choice, in one quick motion she stabbed her hand towards the rock, only managing to get a fraction of the talon in before it became too rough to penetrate.

That would have to do.

There was one paused moment after Lucy gave one forceful yank over the rock; she laid there, her tail hanging over the edge of the rock while her torso extended forward, her hands still in the rock. Then the moment was gone as her tail swung forward over herself, hitting the ceiling as fell forward, a sharp pain striking through her. As she had fallen, her tail had hit a low hanging stalagmite, and Lucy so distracted by the blow had momentarily forgotten to withdraw her claws.

Lucy hit the cold water with an injured tail and two less claws, _great._ She let out a scream of frustration and pain under the water, the water level this side of the rock being much deeper, able to cover the sounds. After the throbbing in her hand lessened, Lucy glanced around the tunnel, elated when she saw a small set of fish approaching her from where they had most likely retreated after her fall. _Yes, food!_ With the sight of living creatures in front of her, Lucy completely forgot about her injuries and jolted forward.

 _Bad move._

Lucy could taste the copper tinge to the water and could lightly see the red disruption of her blood in the clear water. _Ok so tail doesn't work, and neither does left hand. I can totally do this._ Slowly pulling herself forward, Lucy reached out her injured hand towards a fish, calmly not to startle it. With one quick move she used her jagged, but intact, nails to gut the fish.

Not the tastiest fish in the ocean, but it would have to do. Lucy stealthily continued to catch fish until she had 5 small, grey carps collected in her side pouch, placed next to some seaweed and various little snacks. _That should last me a few days at least._ Lucy had no idea how far away the ocean, but there was definitely not a high enough salt concentration in this water to be near the ocean. She just had to trust Porly's words and believe it would eventually reach back to the ocean.

Securing her belt and making sure all her keys were safe, Lucy set off again, hoping to reach somewhere suitable to sleep. Her back ached for soft sand and a soft pillow of seaweed, but looking around Lucy only saw I light coating of sea moss, not enough to make a pillow at least.

Lucy wondered if her father noticed she was missing yet, or would he be distracted by her sisters as usual. _Gosh this tunnel makes me pessimistic, first Aquarius and now her father; she hadn't felt jealousy like this in years. Maybe it's the solitude?_

Caught up in her thoughts Lucy didn't realise that the tunnel had gotten lighter and wider until she could see the claws on the hand dragging her forward. Light meant there was an exit nearby, an exit that hopefully had a tunnel to the ocean.

Lucy was right about one thing, up ahead, maybe a boat's length away, was a small circular opening, smaller than the last one. Lucy was dubious that she would fit but she had to give it a try, where else was there to go.

Lucy felt her heart beat fast in fear and hope, it showing physically with the mix of pale blue and black on injured tail. What if she didn't fit? What if she did and there was something even worse on the outside? Or even more terrifying, something better?

Lucy had a small annoyance for humans, but even after all these years she had still kept her curiosity about the surface world and all its glamour. She saw the interesting objects they dropped in the sea when there ship's sunk to the ocean floor. She saw the tall towers that climbed so high they could be seen from the ocean's plane. But she also saw the human's hatred and anger; the small wars and constant fighting.

Why would she want to see a broken world?

But right now she had no other choice, unless she wanted to starve in a dark cave, and that's if she didn't bleed out first.

Lucy's right hand reached out and grabbed the side of the opening, giving it a light tug: it seemed secure enough. Being careful not to put any pressure on her injured fingers, Lucy wrapped her hand around the other edge of the opening and pushed herself through, almost fully passed through opening. Key word being almost. With a crack and a grumble, she felt the opening begin to crumble underneath her hands, debris slipping through her fingers. Ignoring the pain, Lucy pulled her tail through opening, a mere second before the whole opening collapsed in on itself.

What was with these bloody (a human word that she learnt that always felt satisfying to say) openings collapsing? _Why does the sea witch have a problem against sound architecture?_

Lucy found peace in the feeling of her neck and rib gills fluttering as she took deep breaths to calm herself, taking a moment to collect her thoughts before she had to go drag herself somewhere else. Lucy looked left and right, only to find no more exits. _No, this cannot be happening._

She found hope in glancing upwards, the familiar shimmer of low light hitting water calmed her as she realised there was a surface. Across the water, a strip of rock jutted out, similar to the seats that were carved into the limestone in the kingdom. Lucy decided she would sit down, possibly find something to bind her tail to stop the bleeding and eat a few of the carp she caught.

Lucy's body seemed to fight against her as she crossed the last few paces from the broken entrance to the seat, the build of fatigue and hunger from the last few days wanting to all rush out now. It seemed it was only by her stubbornness alone (her father's trait), that she managed to position herself on the bench before she passed out.

When she awoke again the light felt like a slap in the face, almost ten times brighter than before and all the more radiant. But now was not the time to get distracted by pretty lights, now was the time to eat, fix her tail, and think of a plan.

The eating part was fairly simple, consuming 2 of the 5 fishes, knowing she would need to save some more for later. The binding of her tail: not so easy. The only fabric she had on her was her pouch, which she needed, her bustier, which she also needed, and a few scraps of seaweed, not long enough to wrap around her tail. In the process of dragging herself over rocks and jagged ground, the coral and seaweed of her top began to fall apart, strips had started coming of it and left behind in the tunnels. It wouldn't be enough material to fully cover her tails, even when using the whole garment, but it would have to do for now.

In the method of wrapping her tail, Lucy noticed the damage that had befallen her hand. What she thought was a mere broken claw, was actually a complete mutilation, not only had her claw been completely ripped of her hand, but along with it had gone her fingernails. She should probably also wrap that as well, knowing how easy it was to bleed out in the ocean, the salty water not allowing the wound to scab.

This process took her well into the day, and when Lucy finally emerged from her task she was able to make out the pink and orange hues playing on the water. _Guess I better see what's above._

Lucy's curiosity usually led her into trouble, alongside punishment from her father, but she recalled one time her mother led her to the surface, a few months after 'The Attack'. Layla spoke of how she didn't want her daughter to hate the surface; even after all it had done to her. Lucy remembers being so sceptical at the time, so sure nothing would make up the damage inflicted on her tail, but all words of rebuttal was stolen from her mouth as she saw what the humans called a sunset. The rainbow of colours that stretched across the sky seemed to sing to Lucy, creating a beautiful art piece with the water's reflection.

Even that sunset held no candle to the view she saw.

The strange coral that grew tall from the ground filled the scenery with colours of emerald and jade, and the ground was rich and deep in a brown she had never seen. Flowers of every colour seemed to blossom from every corner, and beautiful birds sitting in the trees where painted with reds, blues and yellows; breath taking compared to the plain white of seagulls.

"Hello,"

Lucy had to hold in a scream as she turned around in her seat. She felt her tail camouflage into the colours of the ground below her on reflex. There in front of her was the weirdest creature she had ever seen, and she had seen a squidworm. _But why was this creature speaking human, was it the universal language of the dry creatures?_

"Hello." She replied, one of the few human words she knew.

The strange creature looked her for a few moments before replying, "Hello." Why was he repeating himself?

"You are..." What was the word humans used after they escaped her fellow mermaids' grasp, "safe?"

"Aye." Aye? Lucy had never heard that word before; she would have remembered such a strange word.

"Aye?"

"Aye,"

Lucy was so close to skinning this blue demon, "What are 'Aye'?"

The mer flattened her tail to the ground as the annoying creature stepped closer, "You're weird."

Oh, Lucy knew that word. She had heard it many times whenever the mer's played tricks on the humans, "I am not weird." She yelled, picking up one of the hardened balls of mud and throwing it near its feet.

"Ooh scary." The deadpan expression of the creature did not support its words.

Unfortunately Lucy didn't know the human words for 'if you were any closer I would pull you into this lake and drown you' so she settled for dragging her thumb across her neck in the universal symbol for 'I'm going to kill you'. Extended claw for dramatic effect, of course.

"You're hurt." Lucy didn't quite understand what it was saying about her but the worried look in the small demons eye was not the reaction she would expect from someone who just received a threat. Maybe this creature was stupid?

Wings erupted from the back of the creature, knocking a green bag on its back. Lucy had to withhold a second shriek; she was not expecting this creature to have wings. "Wait right here, I'm going to get help."

Lucy understood two words in that sentence, only one of them were making sense. 'Wait'. Well were else was she going to go. Maybe she hit the mark before; maybe this creature really was stupid.

There was silence for a while, leaving Lucy to ponder over her thoughts. Maybe this creature knew how to get to the ocean, if so, how could she get its help without showing it her tail. Maybe she should just tell it?

Lucy perked up as she heard rustling in the distance before a distinctive, "Aye."

"Are you sure there's someone out here? I can only smell fish and plants. Is this some plan to get me to go fishing, because you could have just asked?"

So the creature had brought help. Lucy wondered if this one would be a strange blue as well, or maybe a different colour? Pink? Nah.

"I'm serious, there's a girl in the water. She's weird."

Hearing the word weird, she knew it was talking about her. Maybe Lucy should drown the blue creature; she had been offended twice already. But before she could fully develop her plan for idiot drowning the snap of a nearby twig made Lucy turn her head.

Oh no.

Lucy was definitely going to drown that little barnacle; him and his stupid pink haired human.

 **Let me tell you something, Australian weather is so indecisive. Wednesday was a thunderstorm with the temp of 22C (72F), then Thursday was 40C (104F) with fires left, right and center, and then again today its massive thunder storm at 30C (86F) now it's back to 40C. Like WTF Australia, get it together?**


End file.
